My Morning Jacket: Gymnasium Americana

Carl Broemel (left) and his duesenberg Starplayer tV collaborate in the studio with vocalist Jim James and his custom Breedlove Revival 000.
Photo by Roderick Norman Trestrail II

Over the last decade, My Morning
Jacket has proven itself to be perhaps
the contemporary band most adept
at absorbing and mixing country, folk,
rock ’n’ roll, gospel, funk, and soul. So
adept, in fact, that they were invited to
open for Neil Young. And their Coachella
and Bonnaroo performances over the
last few years have been genuinely epic
(their 35-song 2008 Bonnaroo set lasted
four hours and featured guest appearances
by Metallica’s Kirk Hammett and
The Hangover’s Zach Galifianakis). Led
by singer/guitarist Jim James’ falsetto hollers
and smooth crooning, the Louisville,
Kentucky, outfit has managed to consistently
capture and distil the essence of
American musical origins, as evidenced
by everything from the raw, lo-fi raggedness
of 1999’s The Tennessee Fire to 2008’s
sultry, Grammy-nominated Evil Urges.
The current lineup—founders James
and bassist Tom Blankenship, along with
guitarist Carl Broemel, drummer Patrick
Hallahan, and keyboardist Bo Koster—has
been together since 2005’s Z, which happened
to be the album when their heavy
Americana leanings really burst forth.
Coinciding with that subtle shift was a
greater affinity for keys, soaring guitar
breaks, and eclectic surprises such as the
single “Highly Suspicious”—which had a
wah-fueled funk riff like something you’d
hear from Prince.

But MMJ’s latest album, Circuital—with its gentle fingerpicked passages, spacious
echoes, gorgeous vocal harmonies,
and winsome pedal-steel lines—marks
something of a return to the band’s roots,
And it’s no doubt due at least partially to
a three-year break, during which many
members of the band explored other musical
outlets. James formed the super group
Monsters of Folk (with singer-songwriter
M. Ward, and Conor Oberst and Mike
Mogis of Bright Eyes) and recorded an EP
of George Harrison covers under the name
Yim Yames. Meanwhile, Broemel played
on various sessions, including rockabilly
star Wanda Jackson’s latest album, and
Hallahan toured with the Black Keys’
Dan Auerbach in support of his 2009 solo
album Keep It Hid. Whatever the reason,
Jacket’s latest outing is more lushly atmospheric
and acoustic-driven than their
last two efforts—although there are some
notable exceptions: “Holdin’ on to Black
Metal” has a Thai-soul sound, with funky
horn stabs and electric piano grooves,
while “You Wanna Freak Out” features a
gloriously fuzzed-out, square-tooth-filtered
guitar solo.

“I feel like solo acoustic material has
always been a part of MMJ,” James says
when asked if his stint in Monsters of
Folk contributed to the sparser sound of
Circuital. “Our records usually feature
one or two tunes that are pretty simple.
I’ve always liked taking a minute to boil it
down and space out.” A prime example of
the sort of sound James is referring to is
“Wonderful (The Way I Feel)”—a hymn to
simple pleasures that finds James indulging
in twinkling acoustic arpeggios and intermittent
string-section filigrees.

Broemel tracking Circuital with his duesenberg Starplayer TV and a Carr rambler head routed
through a top hat cabinet.
Photo by Roderick Norman Trestrail II

Live at the Gymnasium
One of the more interesting—and kudos-deserving—things about Circuital is that
the vast majority of tracks were recorded
live in a rather sonically unfriendly
environment.

“This was such a fun record to make,”
says James. “We just set up in a beautiful
old gym from the early 1900s and kept the
gear real simple—just our tape machine and
some nice mics.”

“We discovered we’re innately happier
there than in a proper recording studio,”
agrees Broemel. “It’s fun to have no reason
to look at a ticking clock or have to say
‘Oh, the drums always sound great over
here’—to be in a space that doesn’t feel as
if it’s been used for what you’re using it for.
We got some overdubs done in Brick and
Stone Studios in Nashville, and I love it. It’s
an amazing studio—so much equipment—
but they have pictures of the Beatles everywhere.
When you’re trying to record your
songs, you don’t want to look at pictures of
the Beatles. C’mon, it’s a little intimidating!
[Laughs.] In the gym, we were in our own
universe, which is the best place for us.”

Pedal-Steel Preparations
Another reason Circuital feels like a return
to form for MMJ is because the albums
prior to Broemel’s arrival had a lot of pedal-
steel playing. But apparently Broemel
has spent the last four years training himself
on the instrument, because it adds a
familiarly soaring, classic-country vibe to
“Outta My System,” “Holdin’ on to Black
Metal,” “You Wanna Freak Out” and
“Movin’ Away.”

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